All ten McGinley family outside the South Dublin County Council offices

The terrified dad told the Irish Sun: “This is no life for children, we are living in fear, it’s just so cruel . . . We have been living homeless since February 8. We have been in hostels, hotels — they put us down the country in Carlow and further.

“We have eight children, from six weeks old to 12 years old, and none of them have had any form of education for six months.

“They’ve been living off takeaways every night for months. They haven’t had one right meal since we left our home.

“Because we have to be out of whatever accommodation we’re in at 8am, the kids are always in the car, they’re always on the move until we can get a bed if we’re lucky at 9pm that night.”

Arthur told how he and Margaret are constantly left “heartbroken” when the little ones ask why they’re not at school.

He said: “Children need school, they need their education . . . None of the kids have been in any form of education since February and they’ve been eating fatty food for over six months, takeout meals and fry-ups.

CRASH HORROR

'gentle soul'

“They’re very upset. I mean, they don’t need to be looking at us the whole time, they need to be with their own-age friends and have their own fun. We want to let the (South Dublin County) Council know that we’re not stopping because we have kids that need a life, they need food and education and a place to live.

“We’ve been washing our clothes and ourselves on the move for the last few months. You know, taking everything into account, it’s just a cruel condition for eight children to live in.

“Whatever about ourselves, we’ll survive in some way, kids won’t.

“They need education and they need interaction with other children.

“We’re hoping for a permanent place until they give us a council house and we’d take anywhere except the Blanchardstown area where we are not safe.”